Self-unloading skid

ABSTRACT

A self-unloading skid for shipment of fragile or sturdy units with casters or legs, the units may be electronic or mechanical or electromechanical, such as computer systems, consoles for space programs etc. The self-unloading skid includes four shock mitigating corner feet, each foot has an inclined surface that the unit rests on. The corner feet are joined by connecting rods and secured circumferentially with a strap. Upon receiving a unit packed on the self unloading skid, the strap is loosened, the corner feet slide horizontally due to the weight of the unit on the inclined surface, thus lowering the unit to its casters or legs.

v [72] Inventor United States Patent Gene DePiano 2655 Risa Drive, Glendale, Calif. 91208 [21] Appl. No. 205

[22] Filed Jan. 2, 1970 [45] Patented Aug. 31, 1971 [54] SELF-UNLOADING SKID 2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl

206/46 M, 220/15, 248/119 R [51] lat. Cl..... ..F16m 13/00 [50] Field olSearch ..2l4/1,10.5,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,549,489 4/1951 Krause 2,942,827 6/1960 Edson 108/54 2,998,102 8/1961 Deverich.. 248/119'RX 3,321,162 5/1967 Connerat,.... 248/119 R Primary ExaminerGerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Frank E. Werner ABSTRACTzA self-unloading skid for shipment of fragile or sturdy units with casters or legs, the units may be electronic or mechanical or electromechanical, such as computer systems, consoles for space programs etc. The self-unloading skid includes four shock mitigating comer feet, each foot has an inclined surface that the unit rests on. The corner feet are joined by connecting rods and secured circumferentially with a strap. Upon receivinga unit packed on the self unloading skid, the strap is loosened, the corner feet slide horizontally due to the weight of the unit on the inclined surface, thus lowering the unit to its casters or legs.

SELF-UNLOADING SKID This invention relates to improvements in a shock mitigating shipping container skid and more particularly concerns a self-unloading shock mitigating skid with built in protection of any casters or legs on the unit to be shipped; the skid when used with a sleeve and top tray banded together with strapping shall form a shipping container.

Present shipping containers designed for shipment of electronic products, such as consoles, amplifiers, computers, storage units, or other mechanical products, such as boilers, tanks, vending machines, etc., consist of a skidded base which is usually two pieces of 3 by 4 lumber with three-fourths inches plywood on top; on the skidded base is placed a cushioning material, another piece of three-fourths plywood is placed on the cushioning material, the unit is then lifted by a forklift truck or hoist onto the plywood. Units of this type usually have casters or some kind of standoffs or glides. Most manufactures do not want to ship a unit on its casters for obvious reasons; consequently casters are removed or the unit is blocked up off its casters; this adds considerable height to the completed container, added height means added cube which means added cost. A company shipping 3000-5000 units a year can effect a considerable savings by reducing cube. Most units shipped by companies, go to Field stations" where no forklifts or hoists are available for unloading units therefore the units are manhandled off the cushioned base, this is unsatisfactory from three standpoints, one, damage to the units, two, injury to the field station personnel, three, the lengthy time to unload. Many shipping departments have to remove casters to ship a unit, this takes time and a forklift to lift the unit, also loose parts such as bolts, nuts, must be bagged and shipped, if they are misplaced, the field station will have a problem when the unit arrives at the field station, the casters must be installed, most field stations are without forklift or hoists, also specific tools are required for unloading.

Another disadvantage of shipping skids and containers of this type was that they were nailed together and not reusable.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the skid of this invention, a sleeve and a top tray.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view in perspective of the corner foot of the invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the corner foot of the invention taken along the line 66 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the corner footofthe invention taken along the line 88 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the skid of the invention taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 5 except the skid of the invention is shown in the unloaded position.

In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, it is not intended 'to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts, the numeral 12 designates the self-unloading skid which comprises shock mitigating I the resulting container. A support ledge 16 overbox 26, as shown in FIG. 5, thus closing off the bottom of IS provided for the overbox 26 to sit on, also in FIG. 5 the connector 14 is located so as to give support when the skid is lifted by forklift, pallet jack etc. The corner feet 21 may be a solid shock absorbing material, such as rubber, expanded polystyrene etc. Or hollow shock absorbingmaterial, such as rotomolded or blow molded high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride etc. In the preferred embodiment a hollow corner foot is generally represented. Referring to FIG. 4 a reinforced area 15 is provided to transfer lifting loads from the connector 14 when the skid is lifted by a forklift, pallet jack etc. The wall thickness of the comer feet 21 can be varied to obtain a desired transmission of energy to the unit when and ifthe unit is dropped. For example a wall thickness of 0.012 might be used for a unit with a fragility rating of G's whereas 0.018 wall thickness might be used for a unit with a 25 G fragility rating, but with a heavier unit weight.

' As shown in FIG. 3 the standard buckling column 42 may also be incorporated in the design, it should be noted that by varying thickness and design of the sidewall, a wide range of shock or vibration transmissabilities may be controlled. As shown in FIG. 2 a grated air escape valve 4 is provided to control air escape by varying the grid design, this may be used as part of the comer foot when fine control of shock dampening is desired. As shown in FIG. 2, the corner feet 21 have a bevelled edge 10 provided to slide the skid, with a unit load, up onto I other surfaces, such as slight difference in floor to truck level comer feet 21, connectors 14 and a locking strap 35. The selfunloading skid 12 may, when desired also include a platen 20. The self-unloading skid 12 in its assembled form includes comer feet 21 which accepts connector 14 into sockets 18 as shown in FIG. 2, locking strap 35 (FIG. 5) circumvents the corner feet 14 where shown FIG. 5 and when secured applies force which forces corner feet 21 onto connector 14, thus holding said skid 12 together. Said skid 12 may also use a platen 20. The platen 20 may be a single piece of material or a sandwich construction (see FIG. 5) including various materials as desired when the platen 20 is used. Said platen 20 shall have one surface 36 in contact with the incline slip plane 40 (FIG. 5) and an edge 32 flush with the sides and ends of an when the skid is being loaded into a truck. As shown in FIG. 5 the comer feet 21 are banded together by the strap 35, the platen 20 is shown supporting the unit 27 the platen 20 in turn resting on the incline slip plane 40; this generally shows the skid in the loaded position. It should be noted when the platen 20 is omitted the unit 27 would rest on the top point 45 of the incline slip plane 40. FIG. 6 by comparison shows the unit in its unloaded position, the strap 35 has been loosened, the comer feet 21 have moved outward due to the force exerted by the unit weight against the incline slip plane 40 and the unit 27 rests on its casters or legs as the case may be.

The advantages of the skid are numerous, for example the skid would be light weight, its design would allow the use of the most advanced materials and methods, yet the cost would be low by comparison to a wood skid. Much of the labor would be eliminated as the corner feet 21 could be molded. Much labor would be eliminated in receiving departments and field stations with respect to unloading units. Plastics may be used throughout which would make the skid desirable for use in a war zone as it could be disposed of easily with no metal, such as nails or staples left for the enemy to use in mines.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment. Various changes may be made in the shape, size and arrangement of parts. For example, equivalent elements may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts may be reversed, and certain features of the invention may be utilized independently of the use of other features all without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the subjoined claims. Having thus described my invention,

, 1. A-self unloading skid for handling a unit load, said skid comprising four shock mitigating corner feet, the corner feet being connected by connecting rods, said corner feet and connecting rods being held together, circumferentially; by a strap;

- inclined plane slip means on said corner feet for supporting 

1. A self unloading skid for handling a unit load, said skid comprising four shock mitigating corner feet, the corner feet being connected by connecting rods, said corner feet and connecting rods being held together, circumferentially; by a strap; inclined plane slip means on said corner feet for supporting said unit load above ground level when said feet and rods are banded together by said strap and being capable of lowering said unit load to ground level when said strap is loosened; and ledge means on said corner feet to accommodate an overbox when a containerized skid is desired.
 2. The self unloading skid defined in claim 1, wherein a platen is provided between the unit load and the corner feet to close the bottom of the skid. 